We stayed at the new tent area up on the bluff (J section).

Pros: stunning views from the site. Every morning we woke up and watched the whales breaching. The sites are mostly grassy, nice and clean. Nearly no bugs, and just a couple minutes' walk down to the shore. The picnic tables are on a concrete slab, which is nice for keeping things clean. The bathrooms are new and very well-designed, with separate stalls for both toilets and showers, a large sink for washing dishes, and an outdoor sink for brushing teeth etc. There are also a few outlets in case you forget your solar phone charger!

Cons: there are no trees or anything dividing the sites, so there's not much privacy. The J section is right near a road.

We camped in Juniper Campground, campsite 31, on Mt. Diablo on June 22-24, 2021.

Highlight: There is a little parking area bordered by some grassland at the edge of the mountain where you can watch the sun set over the valley. It was stunningly beautiful. The surrounding hills, covered in dried grasses, look like velvet.

The campsite: very pretty, secluded from other sites with brush and trees. Visible from road but only a little. The ground is dust and rocks, so bring a sleeping pad. The area for the tent is on a slight incline, and there is ample room for two large tents. The raccoons are FIERCE. Put everything, and i mean EVERYTHING, in the provided locker or in your car. I had a closed jug of water on the table and they ripped it to shreds. They spent about a noisy hour trying to get at the plastic bag of food in the cracks between the locker slats, and succeeded in ripping the bag so that we had to pick up tiny bits of plastic strewn all over the site. They provide a large and deep firepit (which we were unable to use due to a fire prohibition)

The campground: looks like a nice place. We didn't spend much time exploring it. There is a serious drought this year and they are already out of water, so they had the flush toilets and the showers closed. They provided portapotties and portable handwash stations, but make sure you check the fine print on the website for updates so you know to pack in water. We also found out, upon arriving, that due to drought we couldn't light a fire. I don't remember seeing that on the website, but it's possible I just missed it. Probably just call ahead.

Pros: -beautiful new bathrooms -private lakeside walk-in sites -beavers! Far away but exciting nonetheless -the Conservation Walk on the island is short, easy, and beautiful. Well-marked.

Cons: -chunky bluestone gravel on the sites, so bring a sleeping pad! -has a beach but it's not much to look at -sites have nice sizable fire pits, but they are very tall. It's difficult to cook over them, and sitting around the campfire in the evening is a much less visually appealing experience than I'd like

We stayed in site 157. Accessible via a path from the designated parking space to the site about 2 minute walk. Lakeside, but visibility not great due to vegetation. All sites have little trails down to the water.

Site 174 by the road and less private, but prettily overhung by evergreens.

The cabins look very nice inside.